Wisconsin Mother Arrested For Strapping 9-Year-Old Son To Roof Of Car To Hold Down Plastic Pool

Twenty-eight-year-old Amber Schmunk of Wisconsin was arrested for strapping her 9-year-old son to the roof of her car to prevent the plastic pool that she had just purchased from flying away.

According to the New York Daily News, Schmunk enlisted the help of her son when a plastic pool that she had just picked up would not fit inside of her minivan. She then decided to tie the pool to the roof of her car in order to get it home, but when the 28-year-old feared that the pool may fly off the roof of the car since it was plastic, she decided to strap her 9-year-old son on top of the pool so it would not get taken by the wind.

A witness in Saukville, Wisconsin, called police when she saw the young child riding on the roof of the car on September 9, NBC Chicago reports. The witness followed Schmunk until she eventually pulled both her son and the pool off the roof. Schmunk was able to fold the pool and put it in the back seat of the car before she continued driving to her sister’s house. It was there that authorities caught up with the woman.

When Amber was questioned by local authorities, she admitted to driving the car with her son on the roof but went on to say that it wasn’t that big of a deal because he was only up there for maybe “20 or 30 seconds.”

Amber Schmunk, 28, was stopped by police in Saukville after a caller saw the boy on top of the minivan holding… https://t.co/MFulK6RMXv

Schmunk then went on to say that she thought it would be okay for her son to ride on the roof of her car because that’s something that her father would do to her when she was a child. TMJ 4also reports that the woman claimed it was safe to have her son ride on top of the minivan because she “used a strap” to tie the child down.

According to Fox 6 News, the mother is facing a felony charge of second degree recklessly endangering safety. The 28-year-old is due in court on November 14, and her maximum conviction could have her face 10 years behind bars.

Do you think that 10 years would be too harsh a punishment, or do you think Schmunk deserves a longer sentence?